Raisin
by Imyoshi
Summary: Jaune Arc's Semblance augmented Aura, which, in turn, meant he magnified Semblances. Whelp, one thing led to another, and now Blake Belladonna's Shadow Clone refused to disappear. Oops! It had a mind of its own! Uh-oh! Which one was the real Blake! Wait? Another one? At this rate, the original was going to need to wear a bell.


**Disclaimer:** I own nothing of RWBY.

**Raisin**

**By: Imyoshi**

Blake Belladonna's curiosity was going to be the nine deaths of her.

Watching Jaune save Weiss and then amplify her Aura, followed by using said enhanced power to summon that Queen Lancer and wreck havoc, twiddled a barn of yarn inside her, and she refused to sleep with her thoughts so scattered and lost in the shuffle. Tossing and turning in her temporary bed offered no reprise. She remained awake, gazing through the darkness with her enhanced vision revealing the drifting specks of particles wafting in the air. Many, too many to count.

Blake tried regardless.

Hopeless.

She forcefully shut her eyes, praying the ludicrous Sandman might bless her restless mind. No such luck. A few minutes into staring into the darkness and hearing the floorboards creak, she sat up and scrunched her bedsheets. Sleeping at Haven Academy, whose bright idea was that again? A swift glance over toward her sleeping leader summed the answer. Right. Sleep first, travel tomorrow. Not the worst plan, a solid strategy, but snoozing in the enemy stronghold and one-time battlefield left her mind to wander.

A notorious trait of the feline species.

Amplified Semblances. Queen Lancer. Weiss. Jaune. Semblance. Why for Mother Nature's sake couldn't she sleep? Sleep. Now! Nope. How could she with the temptation to modify her Semblance snoozed just outside her door? That asked for the impossible. A second attempt at counting dust specks ended in failure with her squeezing her sheets. Blake bunched her nose together and squinted around the room. Every one of her companions snored, how she missed the familiar noise. Without considering the consequences, without even giving it a second thought, Blake quietly got to her feet and exited the temporary dorm. Her search led her to the adjacent room, pushing her to walk in and ignore Nora and Ren for their drooling leader.

"Jaune?" Blake whispered. She shook his shoulder. "Psst! Jaune! Wake up!"

Not a stir.

Having enough of this, she harshly kicked his bed's leg.

"Ah!" Jaune scrambled out of bed and retrieved Crocea Mors from underneath his pillow, holding it for dear life. "What?! What?! Who's attacking us?! I'm ready!"

Neither Ren or Nora awoke from his outburst, a testament to their exhaustion. Blake impatiently waited for him to collect his bearings, tuning from alert to shoulder-dropping relief. The pupils in his eyes actually dilated. Then he turned to her. She made a mental note to cup her palm over people's mouths when disturbing their rest, and to not laugh at his Pumpkin Pete onesie. To think, he traveled with that all along.

"No one, no one is attacking us." Blake calmly informed. "I apologize for the rude awakening, but I have a favor to ask."

He blinked, rubbed his eyes, and checked his Scroll for the time before he pinched himself to cross _dreaming _off the list. Then Jaune attempted to poke her to see if he was hallucinating. Not the case when she caught his hand and threw it back. A tense silence followed with him yawning and giving his Scroll a second peek at the time. Blake never made a peep. Nora snored in the background and squeezed her body around Ren's head like a sloth. Jaune finally rubbed his eyes free of sand and scratched his messy, unkempt hair.

"... Now?"

"Now."

Thus, Jaune Arc found himself standing in Haven's ballroom with Blake Belladonna, repeating what she just said like some bothersome parrot Faunus.

"You want me to amplify your Semblance?"

"Exactly." Blake waved her hand. "Your Semblance managed to magnify Weiss' Semblance considerably. I'm curious to what'll happen to mine."

He yawned. "And this couldn't wait until tomorrow?"

"I'm restless."

Understatement of the night. He almost rolled his eyes—almost—only to hold himself back in fear of Blake not receiving such a gesture well. She already didn't like the notion of poking. Against the late hour, with his body wanting to crash, she had his somewhat full attention. A reason to practice his newly discovered Semblance took little to no persuasion. He only wished she asked in the morning, not four at night. Too late now. Jaune was invested. Blake was restless.

For the sake of benefit. "You know, nothing might happen."

She was well aware. "Couldn't hurt to try."

Fair enough. Jaune failed to see the fault in her impeccable logic and gingerly placed his arms on her shoulders. She tensed up before relaxing. Searching for his Semblance was still an oddity for him. Learning to control Aura had been a challenging exercise. So new. So different. Something new lurked in his soul when he concentrated, resembling the same occurrence as Aura. Jaune tugged on that power lurking in the darkness, just like the time with Weiss. Aura swelled. His grip tightened with his soul coming ablaze. Energy sprung to life with it surging into Blake's pores. Somewhere a heart thumped loudly, but for the life of them, they couldn't figure out whose.

White clashed with purple until a pinkish Aura overtook Blake's body.

_Inhale!_

Once everything around her turned muted, Blake breathed and effortlessly switched places with a Shadow Clone. Nothing moved according to plan. Everything happened because of raw, untapped instincts. One second Jaune was holding her shoulders, filling her body with energy brimming with life, and the next, Belladonna found herself glaring blankly at a Shadow Clone that remained standing, even with his hands gripping her shoulders.

_Exhale!_

He ceased all Semblance related effort upon noticing her standing a foot away, taking a step back before walking around to inspect the perfect Shadow Clone. Not a detail out of place. Same eyes, same hair, same clothes and nose. Impressive. Lifelike. Blake thought so too, unsure what added benefit his Semblance added to her Shadow Clone. Increase durability? The ability to move in sync with her? Limited options, but curiosity worked endlessly on her psyche.

He lacked the inhibitors and grinned. "Whoa! Your clone looks so lifelike! It's almost as if I can touch her! Maybe she won't disappear if I poke her in the shoulder."

His inner journey to poke her or something that looked like her grew. He edged his hand closer—Blake never made a move to stop him—intending to poke that exact shoulder, but the Shadow Clone's hand swiftly moved and gripped his fingers tightly in a deadlock. Amber eyes glazed over to Jaune, narrowed in cat-like precision, full of life, full of breath, before she released him with a building frown.

"Please don't. I'm not some _thing_." All traces of sleep vanished from Jaune and the real Blake. Shadow Blake crossed her arms, flattening her ears in annoyance. "Well, since the cat's got your tongue, I'll start. Jaune's Semblance and mine have brought me to life. Hello, Jaune and me, I'm Blake Belladonna."

No one said a word for a good minute with twins glaring at one another. Jaune, predictably, broke the silence and rambled. "What? Who? How! Blake! Your Shadow Clone's come to life, and why aren't you freaking out about this?!"

True to his word, Real Blake remained calm and collected in the face of new life. Her piercing gaze reflected off the same identical glare, almost like peering into a mirror. Jaune rubbed his eyes to doubly make sure he wasn't dreaming. A pinch there, another here, and nothing. A pointless gesture, neither Blake paid him any mind.

Shadow Blake uncrossed her arms. "Because, subconsciously, she knew this might happen."

"... Blake?"

Real Blake nodded. "She's right. I figured this might be a possibility, but I was skeptical at best. Hn? A second me? What an opportunity, this would make fighting all much easier. And it would be nice to talk to someone who understands me. You could never have too many of that."

Both of their eyes lit up. Shadow Blake coughed. "Shall we try for a third?"

A silent _yes_. Two sets of amber eyes shifted over to the still-too-dumbstruck Arc, hands on their hips. When the metaphorical cuckoo clock rung its bird, he freaked out with his arms pushed out.

"Wait, you're serious? Another? In case you haven't noticed, Blake!" Jaune pointed at the Shadow Clone. "There's a walking, talking Shadow Clone standing next to you."

"I've noticed." Real Blake shared a look with her twin. "And, as Ruby would say, the more the merrier."

Shadow Blake added. "Think about it, Jaune. If there was more of me, we could increase our odds of winning."

He raised a brow. Sure! More Blakes sounded all fine-and-dandy, but where was the limit? Mock him all they wanted, but no one could ever be too careful around clones. Lines required drawings in the proverbial sand somewhere, but how was he supposed to accomplish that with all the duplicates muddying up his work?

"I'm not sure." Jaune fumbled with his hands. "It just seems _wrong_. Like a crime against nature."

"Are you calling me a crime against nature?"

He threw his hands up in surrender at Shadow Blake. "No! No, no, no! Never! But c'mon, you have to see this from my point-of-view. You—you're a clone! I mean you were one. Are! Was! I don't know anymore!"

Real Blake saw his point. "Duly noted. Let's put it to a vote then. All in favor of more cloning, raise your hand." Both the Blakes raised their hands. "All oppose?" Jaune didn't even bother. "It's unanimous. More cloning."

Unanimous his butt.

Jaune remained glued to his spot. Option one was to ignore Blake's request and head to bed. Good, good. Option two was the opposite. Both had their pros and cons. One entailed endless pestering from not one but _two_ Blakes. The other had him committing crimes and destroying the very significant line between science and nature. Zealous, more than just a seven-letter word. Then again, their fight with Cinder almost ended with them losing if it wasn't for backup. Having a second or third pair of arms sounded somewhat reasonable in the face of uncertainty. Plus, if Blake didn't have a problem of more of her running around, he wouldn't judge.

"Fine." Jaune sighed. "Get over here."

If nothing else, her gentle smile eased his fidgeting nerves. Not the most humane way to practice his Semblance, but he savored the rare opportunity to train. Not like he planned to sleep anymore. Jolts of his nerves vibrated from creating life. Branches of his Semblance seeped out of his skin once he gripped her shoulders with Aura in his eyes sparkling brilliant and radiant. She inhaled. He exhaled. Another torrent of unimaginable energy raced through the blood in her veins, and she created another Shadow Clone, only something tangible fell apart.

Nothing happened.

The Shadow Clone Blake summoned vanished without a trace the moment they initiated any contact, but her veins remained rich with Semblance enhanced goodness. A second try resulted in the same results. Not even Shadow Blake managed to breathe life into her Shadow Clones. Something was amiss. Both the Blakes walked in circles around Jaune while they tried to deduce the errors in their experiment.

Then they quarreled with each other.

Ha-ha! Ouch! The gears in Jaune's brain clanked and tumbled. Blake arguing with Blake? Yeah. Nope! His head hurt. He headed for the nearest wall and relaxed his body against it, knowing when to sit one out. Arguing could take hours of minutes, and seven sisters have taught him the latter usually happened.

Blake and Shadow Blake glared non-hostile at one another. What now? Arguing solved nothing. Walking in circles helped nadda-nadda. They scrapped the ball of yarn idea, a tragedy, but necessary sacrifices. Out of ideas and empty of clues, the Real Blake scrunched her nose and sighed lowly.

"What now?"

Good question, good question. Shadow Blake rubbed her chin. She slipped her other hand into her pocket and flinched from the earthy texture of some remnants of Earth Dust. Light bulb! Pulling the shard out, she tossed the crystal at the original. Real Blake snatched the gem and inspected it with a cat's eye. Mutual understanding passed through a wavelength, and Shadow Blake thinned her lips.

"Want to try Dust next? Maybe it's limited to a once per use?" Shadow Blake hummed. "Worst case scenario, it doesn't work, and I'll be the only one."

"One's better than none." Blake agreed. "Things have already satisfied my curiosity. I can sleep. Very well, hey, Jaune! We're ready to try again."

Mr. Miracle Worker shot his head up lickity-split. No, he wasn't dozing off, but resting his eyes for more groundbreaking, earth shattering, elbow-bumping, jaw-dropping feats. Not everyday someone brought a precious life into the world. He stood and surrendered to his Fate, charging up like a power station with his body illuminated in white, snowy Aura.

"So?" Jaune blinked. "Did you figure out the problem?"

Real Blake shook her head. "No. We're going to trial and error this until we know for sure. My Semblance's regular Shadow Clone won't clone a second time, but perhaps a Dust-based clone would?"

He argued not. No point. Blake set her mind to the task with the Earth Dust shard gripped tightly in her palm with Shadow Blake watching intently from the side. Uh? Shadow Blake's presence still creeped him out, but nothing compared to how laid-back they acted about the whole spectacle.

He lightly touched her shoulders. "Alright, whenever you're ready, Blake."

She braced herself and concentrated when the flow of Semblance life-giving juice supercharged her Semblance. Earth Dust channeled through her body, mixing with her Semblance, and she breathed. Blake then switched positions, leaving behind an earth-based Shadow Clone gripped in Jaune's hands. No one moved. Not a person breathed. Then the rock-based clone blinked with her ears slanted forward upright.

"Did it work? Earth Blake asked.

Blake and Shadow Blake simpered at Earth Blake and—gah! Dizzy! Jaune's forehead throbbed from the blood rushing to his head. Pain. Wooziness. So confusing! He should have stayed sleeping in his bed or worried about this in the morning, after a deliciously nutritious cold bowl of Pumpkin Pete's cereal. Oum! Three Blakes.

Three.

Jaune paled. That was more than two and less than four, but seeing how this graveyard hour was going, that number might increase exponentially. On the positive spectrum, three out of four discerned a unique quality. Earthly Blake only had one noticeable feature to separated her from the other two, her eyes reflected not amber, but grime. Dark chocolate in color, the other three almost mistook it as black. He guessed that eyes really were windows to the soul, which made sense to why Shadow Blake had no such defining feature, a direct clone from the original without any alterations.

Go figure.

"Yup." Shadow Blake shrugged. "I guess there's a limit of one per item?"

"Agreed."

"Ditto."

"This is so confusing."

Real Blake fished out another shard. Curiosity, thy name was Blake Belladonna. "Fire Dust?"

Three hands shot up in the air with the Arc groaning vehemently. They had a long night ahead of them.

**...**

Ruby Rose had a tradition in the morning.

She acted slower than a turtle that ran away from home until she devoured her morning breakfast. Her mind turned sluggish. She yawned with morning breath. She didn't even walk, dragging her feet across the floor as if buckled down by quicksand. So suffice to say some things slipped by her in the wee hours of the morningtide. No food, no mojo.

Simple as that.

She yawned once stepping inside the kitchen, waving to Blake with a fish in her mouth.

"Morning, Blake." The refrigerator door shut with another Blake holding a carton of milk. "Heya, Blake." Ruby stretched her arms, only for Blake to move past her with a sandwich in her hands. "Mmmmm, Blake."

None of it registered with the once team leader of Team RWBY, brainpower focused on stealing strawberries, hot cocoa, banana bread, and other assortments of goodies from the pantries. She accomplished her said task, holding some of the food by the skin of her teeth as she joined her fellow team member at the breakfast table, smiling at Blake Belladonna number four. Nope. Not a clue. She chewed her breakfast so absently, eyes closed with five identical Faunus watching her mix bread and cocoa into the same bottomless gullet.

The only other person not freaked about this recent development sat at the same table, memorized by his own hands as his fellow teammates stood at the edge of the whooshing kitchen doors with the rest of their now wide awake party.

Yang slapped her cheeks. "Either I drank some of uncle Qrow's stash, or there's five Blake's at the breakfast table."

"No. There are indeed five Blakes." Ren said. "I see them, too."

"Yeah!" Nora added. "And they're eating all the food."

"Hey, hey, what's all the commotion?" Qrow pushed past all of them, yawning in a familiar style as one Ruby Rose. "It's too early for whatever it is you're doing."

Strangely, Qrow mimicked Ruby's exact morning routine, except he sat next to his mini version and drank a morning scotch. Unlike Miss Rose, his tolerance for all things alcoholic far surpassed everyone, and he noticed five Belladonna's sitting around them with Ruby still none the wiser. Just to be on the safe side, he stopped drinking to elbow a sleepy tater tot.

"Hey, kiddo. Call me crazy, but I think there's something wrong here."

Ruby huh-ed with her mouth full, checking the table to spot Jaune, Blake, Blake, Blake, Blake, and Blake eating their breakfast. Hn? Now that he mentioned it, something didn't belong, but her morning mind couldn't comprehend such a task at minimal capacity. Wait! Jaune wasn't eating his trusty cereal. Ha! Problem solved. Ruby swallowed her food and shrugged. Two seconds later, her eyes bulged out, and she coughed and choked on her meal, sputtering nonsense while Blake and her merriment of Blakes watched.

"B-Blake—there's five of you!" Ruby breathed in fresh, nonfood related air. "What the what?!"

Everyone else blinked in the room.

Real Blake chewed her tuna tonelessly. "Oh? Yeah. Tested my Semblance with Jaune's, and it makes my Shadow Clones come to life. Meet the gang. There's Fire, Shadow, Water, and Earth Blake. You can tell them apart by glancing at their eyes, except for Shadow Blake."

"Yo."

"Greetings."

"Hey."

"Pass the butter."

The remaining members of the world-saving party swiftly huddled near the table, minus Ozpin-Oscar, who remained doing mysterious mystery things, memorized by what Real Blake just said. Clones? Semblance? Life? Eyes? Just like what Ruby said, what the what? All eyes turned to Jaune, who hid behind inside his hoodie, so they glanced over to the newest additions to the team.

Fire Blake, distinct by her always alert ears and crimson eyes, chomped down on her tuna in an aggressive manner. Displays of savage carnage scared Water Blake, who had her ears flat and eyes seaweed blue. She hid behind her fish, yelping when Fire Blake suddenly gnawed down on her only line-of-defense. Earth Blake's ears remained docile, reacting the same as the way she devoured her milk, slow and easygoing with bored jalapeño flavored eyes. Only Shadow Blake acted within the realm of normalcy in a situation where normal got thrown out the Bullhead's window.

Sensibility. Sensitivity. Sense-a-something! Weiss pointed at the five.

"Okay! I can't be the only one who thinks this is wrong? There's five Blakes! And they're eating food?"

Jaune internally grinned for gaining an ally, only to be backstabbed by another.

"I think it's neat!" Sun chirped. "I wonder if my clones would come alive, too? Hey, Jaune? What do you say we try testing and see—?"

"No!" Jaune jumped away. He shielded his eyes from Sun's cheerful grin. "Not again! I won't play Monty anymore! It's too much power for one man!"

The nervous Arc stammered away from the breakfast table with Ren closing the gap. He gently lowered his tone, speaking softly but audibly. "Jaune?"

"What? What!" Jaune grabbed Ren by the threads of his outfit. "Do you want me to supercharge Nora and make her a walking thunderbolt?"

"... Are you offering?"

"No, Nora."

"Ren!"

While the remaining members of Team JNPR dealt with their Fearless, Monty-blessed Leader, Weiss Schnee poked and prodded for valuable information regarding Blake and her cohorts. Living clones? She admitted it was, by all record, astonishing. Five Blakes? Five. F-I-V-E. Hn? She glanced at the Real Blake with her stern expression impossible to ignore.

"So? When do they disappear?"

All the clones in the room stopped whatever they were doing and turned to the frozen Heiress. Water and Earth Blake looked away quickly enough, but Fire Blake fumed with her irises ablaze in a dastardly inferno as she chewed thoroughly, loudly, and with great contempt on her delicate tuna. Her hot temper demanded she talked with her mouth full.

"Of course, of all people to say that would be a _Schnee_."

Everyone, including the brutal Schnee, looked flabbergasted. "E-Excuse me? I beg your pardon!"

"You heard me!" Fire Blake's voice sizzled. "Why do we have to disappear? What? Do we scare you, Schnee? Are you afraid now since there's more Faunus here than there are humans?"

Unbelievable!

Weiss' cheeks matched the shade of Fire Blake's eyes, turning redder than a ripe tomato. Her lips wobbled. Snowy-bluish Aura cooled with the temperature dropping a few degrees. A heated debate raged on, but between Jaune's counseling, Qrow's ability to _eh _to the weirdness of the world, Sun's amazement of five Blakes, and Ilia's ability to become a wallflower to the chaos, they spewed fire and ice alone. Ruby offered zero help with swirls and dazzling stars in her eyes. So many Blakes, so little time.

Only one Arc and Belladonna reacted not to the display of Fire Blake's fiery tongue.

The Real Blake and Jaune Arc had noticed to the prior night that as the Dust Blakes slowly settled into their newfound skins, personalities different from the original started developing. Shadow Blake hypothesized the Dust affected the changes. Four out of five Blakes agreed with the Earth Blake not caring one way or another. Which, ironically, led to a heated discussion of SDC work conditions and a failing Heiress from Fire Blake, a blanket roll of the original's burning passion. Repressed emotions? Turning tail and running away? Not a chance with Fire Blake. Her bite was hotter than her meow.

Better to sit and consume her breakfast while everyone turned into a frenzy of disorderly chaos.

Meanwhile, while Ren pulled a begging Nora away from her leader, Qrow Branwen shadowed Jaune Arc's shadow, drinking some of his precious beverage. He coughed to attract his attention, which snapped the Arc out of his funk long enough to address the generously intoxicated scarecrow.

"You messed with the natural order of things."

"And you can turn into a bird."

"Touché."

...

More or less, once the initial shock of five Blakes wore off, things settled into obscurity.

Jaune Arc embraced the solitude he managed for himself for all but a minute. Then someone knocked rather impatiently on his temporary door. Much needed sleep wouldn't come to this Arc, and he begrudgingly answered the door after attempting to pretend he wasn't home. Who he expected to find on the other side was perhaps Oscar or a Blake, but not a caramel-colored girl with eyes as blue as his.

Blake's friend.

He never learned her name. "Uh? Hi. Can I help you?"

She pulled at her ponytail and grinned. "Ah, yes. Sorry to be frank, but I was kind of hoping you make me a Blake."

A thick silence stretched between the hallway and dorm room with the Arc's eyes squinting ever-so tightly. He blinked a few times into reality, holding the handle tightly with his headache making a fierce comeback. Make her a Blake? A Blake? No. No, no! Nothing added up.

"Wait? Wait?" Jaune choked, raising his voice in hysteria. "Let me get this straight! You want me to make you a Blake! When did Blake become a _thing? _As a matter of fact, Shadow Blake is very anti-thing."

She leveled with him. "Look, Jaune, can I call you Jaune?"

"That's my name."

Ilia laughed awkwardly. "All the other Blakes are taken, so—?"

"What do you mean all the Blakes are taken? How does that even work?" Jaune huffed. "Explain."

"Well?" Ilia listed off with her fingers. "Fire Blake's currently busy butting heads with Weiss at the combat arena. Qrow took Earth Blake somewhere once she said something about needing something to mellow out. Wind Blake's busy hanging out with Sun. Shadow Blake has taken a fascination with Ren. And the original is hanging out with her team. So, would you be a chum and make me one?"

The hamster on the wheel in his brain fell and died of a heart attack. Twitchy eyebrow followed. "I don't even know you!"

She jumped and extended her arm out. "Oh! Where are my manners? The name's Ilia! And what a perfect chance to get to know me. Ilia Amitola, at your service."

He cautiously accepted her hand, wondering for the briefest of moments what his life would have been like if he became a farmer or something. The ability to conjure life messed with his brainwaves and Ilia's creepy, honest smile did not help in that manner. She was, by all means, an unknown-unknown.

"Jaune Arc. It's short, sweet, rolls off the tongue, and the ladies love it." Jaune added the last part by a force of habit. "So? How do you know, Blake?"

"We used to be in The White Fang together."

He frowned. "Ah."

Another tense silence with their hands still conjoined. Hehe. Awkward. Ilia broke her grip first, dropping that harmless simper for something more direct and lip curling. She balanced on her toes, ocean blues sparkling like a newly dewed fountain. A vast comparison to those twitchty sky blues of his.

"So... about that Blake?"

He dropped his head and surrendered to the entire foolhardiness of it all. "C'mon, let's go find the original."

Her skin changed to a rosary color as her eyes curved. Ah, chameleon attributes. Now her Faunus heritage made sense. An attractive and handy ability. Such a shame her hair didn't turn into the same shade, or maybe it did, and her excitement got the best of her? Regardless, they searched for the missing Blake with him encountering the other four along the way.

The first encounter they stumbled upon was Earth Blake and Qrow drinking outside the kitchen. He appeared content and just a little sober.

Qrow Branwen finally found a down to earth drinking buddy he could share a glass and story with, even if it was an abomination of nature and science like no other, but her tales from The White Fang made a weaker man's stomach churn. The drunken bastard appreciated that and _clicked _his shot glass against hers. Tales of woes always needed something starchy and rough to make the gruesome memories go away, and Earth Blake acted no different.

They looked away once she swigged down that shot and settled for another more potent drink.

Wind Blake found them by bouncing down a tree with Sun lurking on a nearby branch, just outside the courtyard. Both of them deeply blushed when they discovered that wind meant freedom, all pointing to Wind Blake's choice of attire. Sun Wukong finally had someone who appreciated opened shirts just as much as him with Wind Blake wearing a similar, yet smaller opened white shirt that accentuated the curves of her breasts. All the naughty bits were hidden by the thin fabric, exposing only her stomach, bellybutton, and front half of her body to the everlasting disappointment of Ilia and relief of Jaune. Wind Blake grinned and then followed Sun back into the security of the trees.

Jaune physically pulled Ilia away right before Wind Blake decided hanging upside down was the way to live.

Ilia grumbled about unfairness, and _can we please go back! Just let me get a picture with my Scroll!_

Useless.

He dragged her along on the condition that if she ran off, then no Blake for her. Ilia actually contemplated that decision before pouting. Arms crossed, breath held, the whole nine yards. Too bad she didn't know about his immunity to such tactics from having seven sisters with their bags full of tricks.

Better luck next time.

Onward with their journey to violate every law of nature and science.

Spotting Shadow Blake proved humorous as she clung to Ren's shadow in the mediation room, brushing arms with Nora fuming her cheeks out. Huh? Shadow Blake must have some unknown trait that separated her from the original? Guessing, maybe that version of Blake was indeed a shadow of her former self, which, and by purely of speculation, her past self might have had a crush on one Mr. Lie Ren. She must be attempting to indulge her feelings and toss inhibitors away. He certainly didn't reciprocate or push her away, remaining calm, collected, and confident with a volcano Nora ready to erupt at any second.

Ilia didn't understand why he held back a giggle at Nora's expense. A jealous Nora? He never thought he would see the day. Somehow they both acted territorial with Shadow Blake closing gap on Ren's left with Nora at the right, shooting sparks at one another with the Lie not making a peep. He shared a look with his leader, nodded his head, and headed off to Oum knew where his choice of destination was not his choice.

No sign of Fire Blake.

She must be arguing with Weiss still about Faunus and SDC practices, which perfectly explained Snow Angel's and her absence when they finally found the remaining members of Team RWBY in the breakroom. Funny how people acclimated so quickly to the unknown and bizarre after dealing with Maiden mumbo-jumbo. Multiple Blakes? _Yeah, freaky, but Qrow can turn into a bird!_

Speaking of the unknown, he started counting with his fingers. "Let's see, Fire, Wind, Shadow, and Earth. That makes four. Which Blakes do we have left to choose from?"

"Water or gravity."

He coughed stiffly. "You mean water. I created a Gravity Blake with the others, but I haven't seen her around. I totally forgot until you mentioned gravity. I guess the original and others did, too."

Ilia blinked. Gravity Blake? Maybe her problems were solved before they began. "So, where's Gravity Blake then?"

He rubbed his chin. "Last I remembered, she left for Haven's gardens, but that was at like four in the morning. Something about needing space and silence."

In the late Leonardo Lionheart's office, Ozpin, currently in control of Oscar, and Gravity Blake played an intense, quiet game of chess with Ozpin sitting in the Headmaster's chair. Her sudden appearance the night prior had surprised him, along with her detailed explanation of her change in eye color, but his advanced age allowed the gist of it to matter not. Relics and Maiden and magic and Gods erased whatever wow factor the younglings had, but he had inquiries to the limits of Mr. Arc's Semblance. Alas, another time, this fullhearted game of the minds interested far more with his opponent's company a delightful astonishment.

Ozpin-Oscar very much valued Gravity Blake's opinion, finally enjoying the company of a level-headed person. While he adored his precious students, wisdom could only tolerate the ignorant so long before needing a break. She never spoke too fast or slow. She had her ears pushed forward and slightly off to the side. Her irises reflected that of uncut amethyst. An overall welcome change to the status quo and he couldn't fathom how the other Blakes turned out.

"Checkmate." Ozpin laughed. Later. Not now. "A rematch, Miss Belladonna?"

"I call black pieces."

Back to Jaune and Ilia, who both tapped Real Blake on the shoulder as she read the newest addition of her favorite novel. She glanced over. She didn't even need to ask once she saw Ilia hold up a Water Dust shard with a strained smile and the ever reluctant Jaune. Ilia asking for her own clone? It would be a blatant lie to say she hadn't expected such a thing. Blake merely shut her book closed and concentrated in deathly silence, with Yang and Ruby pausing their game just as soon as Jaune grabbed her shoulders. Ilia wallflowered into the background when he glowed in a snowy white embrace of Aura. Blake breathed.

Not surprising that Yang spoke first. "Hey, Blakey. Vomit Boy? Whatcha doing?"

"Making a water-based Shadow Clone." Blake answered. "Might as well since there are already four other copies of me—?"

"Five." Jaune interrupted. "We forgot about Gravity Blake."

Her eyes grew. Yup! She did. "Right. Five other copies of me and more could only benefit us."

A certain Schnee, covered in flames and cuts, fighting in Haven's combat arena against a delinquent to show her proper manners and _yes, she would fight for her honor_, agreed to disagree.

Ruby vigorously jumped to her feet. "Oh! Oh! Yang! We get to see how they make a Blake clone come to life!"

"Yeah." Yang crossed her arms with a smirk. "This should be a sight to see. What do you think water's like?"

"Only one way to find out!"

Jaune wished they stopped talking like Ilia so he could concentrate and perform this unholy sacrilege. Rinse and repeat, life-giving vitality spread from his body to Blake's soul. His Aura infused with her body. She clutched the water shard tight, exhaling, inhaling, exhaling and inhaling. One, two, three! Switch! A water-infused clone replaced her position with the original standing next to her wow-eyed partner and googly-eyed leader.

Crystal clear blue eyes blinked to life with amber impressed on another job well done. Meanwhile, Jaune clutched his hands tightly, forming shaking fists. Few Dust shards remained before they ran out, and the antipathy of creating life would cease. Ilia rejoiced, running up to Water Blake before she spoke and snatched her prize away. Person. Not a thing. Water Blake allowed it. A go-with-the-flow type of clone. That sounded right for a water attributed heavy mimic.

"How many does that make now?" Blake absently asked. "Seven, right?"

"Yup!" Jaune solemnly grinned. "Hey! Two more and you have nine Blakes for all nine of your lives."

Thinned lips told Jaune she loathed the cat joke, but she agreed it worked for the situation. A successful experiment allowed some leeway for bigotry, and she felt extra-tolerant with Jaune today. Seven Blakes for the fight against oppression? It nerved her spine to tingle with endless possibilities boarding on the horizon. So yes, she laughed in the inside.

Yang wasn't laughing.

"Seven Blakes?" Yang echoed. She shot a nervous glance at Ruby, and her sister nodded. "Uh, about that, Blake. Can you come over here, we need to talk for a sec."

She blinked. "About what?"

"Just get over here."

She sighed. "If you'll excuse me, Jaune."

Jaune waved her off, mindlessly wondering what would happen if he supercharged Professor Goodwitch's Aura or some ordinary air conditioner. Brrr. Both possibilities sounded bone-chilling with only one manageable due to its _off _switch. Then his ears perked up when he heard Blake shriek in bloody terror. A glance over revealed Ruby attempting to appease her furious teammate while holding what appeared to be a bell attached to a collar. Blake's shouting resonated in the tiny breakroom.

"What do you mean I have to wear a bell?!"

Ruby pressed her fingers together, awkwardly smiling. "Sorry, Blake. It's the only thing we could find on such short notice."

She seethed. "That doesn't explain why I need one!"

"Hey, hey!" Yang held her arms up. "Everything was all fine and dandy until you started cloning yourself. There's seven Blakes running around. Seven! Not one, not two, or three, or four, but seven! We can't keep track of all of you."

"You don't need to!" Blake venomed back. "Look at their eyes. They're all different colors. Mine are amber."

Yang rolled _her _eyes. "We can't always look at your eyes. What if we're under attack and I need you, but I end up with killjoy Blake? That's going to be a problem."

"... Killjoy Blake?" Blake paused. "You're naming them now?!"

Ruby perked up. "Yup! Yup! There's Fun Blake, Conspiracy Theorist Blake, Blake-Blake, and the one drinking with Uncle Qrow is Killjoy Blake. And since you just created another, I guess we need another name."

Yang had an idea. "We'll just call her Useless Blake."

"Useless Blake..." Ruby wrote that into her Scroll, enunciating each word. "Got it! Useless Blake!"

Blake couldn't believe her ears. "You're serious? You're actually serious! You want me to wear a bell? Do you have any idea how degrading and embarrassing that is?"

Ruby shrugged. "We thought a name tag might be too humiliating, and this way, we'll know which one is the real one without having to check. Ring-a-ding-ding, hehe."

For added effect, Ruby shook the collar with the oversized, spherical shaped bell as some way to tempt her. She smiled brightly, adorably, Ruby-like. Blake desperately glared over to Jaune for support, only to find him gone like the dirty traitor that she secretly knew he was. Yang offered zero help, shrugging in defeat. No one supported her in her time of need.

They only offered a choker with a bell.

She tentatively grabbed it. "I'm only doing this under protest."

Yang gave her a thumbs up. "Totally."

She grumbled-grumbled, fastening the choker loosely around her neck. How humiliating. Mortifying even. For a moment, just an insignificant second, she regretted hitting Adam. Then she moved and the bell jingled. Now she lamented on her choice.

Ruby, the ever clueless socialist, grinned. "Wow! It looks good on you."

Kill her now.

...

Weiss Schnee required food asap!

Everything had happened so fast. One minute Weiss discovered multiple Blakes, and the next, she was going toe-to-toe with the hothead of the group, skipping the most important meal of the day. Humph! That wasn't all. Fighting Miss Inferno, worked up a healthy appetite with her challenger following closely behind her shadow. Ends of her dazzling locks had burnt tips with soot covering her pale skin. Fire Blake wasn't any better with chunks of ice still stuck to her skin and half of her hair. She frowned, the other smirked. She so won that fight with her radical opponent calling foul.

Whatever.

Weiss entered the kitchen to find her remaining team members in various positions. Typical Ruby had a sandwich stuffed in her mouth, a hungry leader with a metabolism fit for a body wrestler. While on the subject of a lean, mean, fighting machine, Yang currently occupied her time with her Scroll, legs rested on the table like some uncultured savages.

Then there was the troublemaker to her whole missed breakfast dilemma.

Blake acted as the only one out-of-character with all her groaning. She had her head melted between her arms and the hardwood table. Still ticked about the entire mess, Weiss pointedly ignored her and retrieved food from the fridge for a mid-day brunch. Ruby absently waved to her. She humphed back. Teaching Ruby not to talk with her mouth full ranked high on her personal achievements. Yang only grunted a _hey _before throwing a fit about losing to some cheater online. Meanwhile, Fire Blake noticed the original moaning and bluntly tapped her noggin.

"Hey? What's wrong?"

Real Blake slowly moved her head up, but that couldn't stop her bell from jingling. A pause. Weiss snorted with her eyes curved up. She coughed to cover it up, only to hiccup with her cheeks threatening to burst into laughter. Fire Blake neither chuckled or snorted. She frowned and prodded.

"Why are you wearing a bell?"

Blake groaned miserably. "It wasn't my choice."

Fire Blake bit her tongue. "So, you're saying you're oppressed?"

"I'm wearing this so they could tell us apart."

"So, you're saying all Faunus look alike?"

"No! I'm wearing this so _they _could tell us apart!"

"So, you're saying humans are inferior?"

"... Oum, I hate you." Blake clicked her teeth. "Was I always this grumpy?"

"Oh yeah! Mmm-hmm!" Ruby and Weiss simultaneously agreed with their mouths full. "Always."

Weiss knew trouble was brewing when the jingling Blake dropped her head back onto the table, only for Fire Blake to growl. "Aren't you going to say something? React? Anything?!"

Blake raised her head, her bell jingled, and she immediately dropped it. The redness in Fire Blake's eyes practically turned into infernos from watching the original give up so easily. Her ears straightened up with her hissing before she stormed out of the kitchen in an angry huff. Both the smallest members of Team RWBY blinked at the display of fury.

Ruby naturally panicked. "Should we go see if she's okay? She is Blake."

Yang barely raised a finger. "Eh, just leave her. Give her time to cool off."

"She doesn't cool off." Weiss pointed out. "She's Fire Blake."

"Killjoy Blake." Ruby corrected.

"Whatever. You know what I mean."

_Jingle!_

...

Everyone's next stop, Argus, a port city in the Kingdom of Mistral, was met with some delays.

The morning everyone prepared to leave and venture out with the Relic tucked away with Ozpin-Oscar, unexpected goodbyes hit them like a freight train.

Sun and Ilia entered the courtyard to find the group ready to venture out and head to Atlas. Not them. Their respective Blakes followed them outside as they enjoyed the scenery of mundane before them. Jaune Arc, the proprietor of an Oum-like Semblance, currently had his palms glowing in divine power as he hovered over his bubbly and trigger-happy teammate. Nora fidgetted in her seat, unable to wait to be supercharged from a megawatt to a gigawatt! Endless possibilities awaited her with Ren shaking his head in the background. Shadow Blake calmly patted his back. Enough pestering must have convinced him to let her go through with it.

All the more reason to leave.

Qrow and Earth Blake watched the spectacle from a safe distance, both drinking from a flask. Nobody else knew this, not even them, but that flask in Earth Blake's hand belonged to Qrow, and he gifted it to her after learning about her hardships with both The White Fang and having his niece as a leader. While the engraving was a picture of a crow, if someone squinted hard enough with the bottle turned lopsided, the impression somewhat resembled a cat. Earth Blake cherished it anyway, clicking drinks together while waiting for the fireworks.

Gravity Blake evidently integrated herself with Ozpin-Oscar. Levelheadness and wisdom complemented one another well with one sipping on hot chocolate, and the other on a mug of warm milk. Old habits die hard. Funny to see them mingling when they unquestionably preferred peace, quiet, and their space. Some part of them wished to see what Barrier Blake or Lightning Blake might have looked like. A jittery mess? Perhaps someone blockheaded? Nora would have clung to Lightning Blake with Barrier Blake possibly butting heads with Ruby.

Missed opportunities.

Water and Wind Blake shared in their sentiment, saddened for never seeing their other sisters.

Then Ilia and Sun focused on Team RWBY, who harbored the one and only original Blake Belladonna, Faunus revolutionist, world changer, bell wearer. The jingle-jangle made sure everyone knew just who was the real Blake. Something, something an incident with Ruby and a stray black cat. Depression hit her like a car, casting a dark cloud over her head with rain and thunder. Good thing they were departing, then maybe she wouldn't need the bell to distinguish between so many Blakes.

Welp! Time to rip off that bandage.

"Attention! Everyone! Hey, look over here!" Sun yelled. Everyone did look toward him. "I'm parting ways, guys. It's time I headed back to Menagerie."

Ilia grinned. "Me, too."

A mixed reaction was the best outcome they expected, hitting the nail on the coffin. The variety of Blakes reacted differently with some stricken by the news, others _eh _about it, and the original finally free from her dark cloud with her eyes wide. Neither Faunus blamed her. Their fight in Menagerie left a bruised scar, but it was an injury they shared. For them to part ways folded her ears down with her posture slacking.

Blake walked until she stood a foot away from her cherished friends. "You're both leaving?"

Sun rubbed his neck. "Well, it's more like the four of us. Wind and Water Blake are coming with us."

Pupils enlarged. Blake the First blinked at her awkwardly waving doppelgängers, unsure whether to feel betrayed or relieved. Less Blakes might lead to the bell getting removed, but wind and water were a part of her, part of her soul. She couldn't stop them from leaving, wouldn't, but a piece of her soul fractured at the solemn news of their separation.

"Is this true?"

"Afraid so." Wind Blake grinned widely. "All this travel across Remnant stuff isn't for me. Too much drama. But don't worry about me, Sun'll be there to watch my back."

Water Blake sneezed. "Same. Running out and facing the unknown is more of your shtick. I'm much happier about going back home."

Talking to herself, Blake Belladonna was having a conversation with two of her counterparts, legitimately talking to herself, and no one thought it strange or otherwise. Earth Blake took an extra-long sip of her flask with Gravity Blake showing a gentle smile. Only Shadow Blake mirrored her original's blues, refusing to make eye contact.

"Oh. Okay." Blake breathed. "I guess I can't force you to come. If you're sure about this, then go on. Live your lives. You only get one. And make sure to keep Sun and Ilia in line."

The Dust Duo laughed and pulled the original into a fierce hug that squeezed the life out of her. Both of them mumbled _promise _with Blake asking them to check up on mom and inform them about the recent changes to her litter lineup.

Ruby whimpered in the background.

Not Useless and Fun Blake! Gravity Blake had turned out to be no fun, a real drag, earning her the name Boring Blake, but Rubes had counted on Fun Blake to make up for the upcoming snoozefest. That only left Killjoy Blake, Blake-Blake, and Conspiracy Theorist Blake. She quickly found two, somewhat okay with the arrangement, but blinked at the missing third.

Ruby looked around for one hot-tempered pepper. "Hey? Has anyone seen Conspiracy Theorist Blake?"

...

Adam Taurus walked as a Faunus defeated.

Humiliation. Betrayal. Defeat.

All words used to describe his current predicament and how he felt. Damn that traitor Ilia, and curse Blake. Cowards! Both of them. The next time he saw them—sigh. Forget it. He didn't care anymore and trudged back to the empty White Fang camp. With his remaining men capture, no one but him was left to pack up and clean. Tch! The temptation to throw caution to the wind and burn the whole place to the ground grew, only for a familiar voice to shock him out of it.

"Hello, Adam."

His hand reached for his blade before he turned around, on red alert with his Aura working overtime to sharpen the edge of his sword. When he spotted the traitor lounging by a nearby tree with her filthy book in her hands, he made a move to strike her. Her response to the life-and-death situation was to close her book and hold her hands out in an old-fashioned _time-out_ gesture. Somehow the audacity of it all forced his legs to stop.

Then she chuckled smugly. "Calm down, hotshot. I'm not here to fight. I'm a clone of Blake. Long story short, one of her teammate's Semblance can amplify other Semblances, and poof, here I am."

Lies. "You expect me to believe that?"

"Check the eyes."

Eyes? What other foolishness. He scoffed and prepared to finish what he started, only to break his firm grip. Where amber eyes once shined and judged cruelly, a fire took their place in blazing intensity. Those weren't Blake's eyes, but they were. That burning smirk adored right beneath them had never graced her lips. Her voice. Her body. Her scent. All of it belonged to Blake Belladonna, but heightened senses only now noticed the hint of ash mixed into the bunch.

The person standing before him was and wasn't Blake.

Considered his curiosity piqued.

"Okay. What the hell is it that you want?"

She rolled her eyes in a typical Blake fashion. "Isn't it obvious? To join you." Fire Blake scowled. "The original's gone soft, and the Faunus can't rely on soft to make a change. Besides, we both know you need someone to keep that head of yours screwed in."

What?

Join up with him? Absurd. It had to be a trick to lower his guard. Adam scanned her body language for any dishonesty, looking for nervous ticks or wandering eyes, but found none. She smirked coldly with a fire in her belly.

Could it be?

Ever so smoothly, Adam sheathed Wilt, cocking his head to the side. His grip remained on the handle in case of an attack, but Fire Blake never moved a muscle, at ease with her former lover. Confidence bred power. He smelled it radiating strongly from her. Such an overpowering aroma, his grasp faltered for a brief moment before he rehardened it.

"How can I trust you?"

Fire Blake smirked and grabbed the idiot by the collar of his shirt, pulling him into a searing kiss that burned the ends of his hair and toes. When it was made and done, she released him, licking her lips like an apex predator. The poor, ill-prepared fool stumbled back, breath hot and mind possibly baked to a warm crisp. That was okay. He needed to stop thinking every once and awhile. Let those instincts take over for a change. It would probably do him some good.

Her twirling finger hooked around his collar to drag him elsewhere.

"Where are we going?"

"Stop talking."

...

Of course, not all farewell goodbyes were complete until the respective Blakes thanked their creator for everything.

The trio broke apart for the duo to walk across the courtyard and grin at Jaune Arc. Fear gripped his heart. The unholy abominations he created came forward. What more did they want? Another sister? Two more? One for each life? It was a joke! A joke!

Only they desired none of that and clapped their hands together with Wind Blake talking first. "Jaune? You gave us a chance at life. _You gave us life. _And for that, thank you from the bottom of our hearts."

Water Blake whimpered with her eyes watery. She refused to say a word, afraid of possibly hiccuping and embarrassing herself. Even the other Blakes shared in the heartfelt confessions. All of them cheered for their compassionate creator. All of them rejoiced. Shadow Blake nodded while Earth Blake raised her flask to him as Gravity Blake gently clapped in the background.

He gasped.

So many smiling faces, and they all strayed from Blake Belladonna's face, the introvert of their party. That meant something. They meant something. He meant something. Sniff! His heart throbbed in his chest with his spine-tingling in an endorphin related high.

Love overpowered fear.

Out-of-nowhere, he lunged forward, sobbed and hugged them tightly. Even if he shattered every fundamental law of nature and science known and unknown, and challenged Mother Nature's authority, he brought them into this world! A maternal instinct overpowered the life-giver, trapping his precious children between his arms. Squished cheeks followed after with both the Blakes struggling to break free as an overly affectionate Arc, courtesy of a massive estrogen family, allowed his emotions to leak out.

He sobbed. "It seemed like it was only yesterday when you both took your first breath! And now you're leaving the nest!"

"It was only yesterday."

Water Blake gasped. "You're hurting me."

Yes! He was hurting them by crying, but emotions ran rampant through his veins. Only one solution left. Jaune pulled them tighter into his embrace with Nora joining the merriment. Bodies spazzed from the intense pressure, Ruby threw her hands up and cheered, Weiss hid a smirk, and Yang _wooed _in the background.

Only the original Blake Belladonna shook her head in embarrassment.

_Jingle!_

* * *

**Author Notes:** Blake Belladonna, the real harem protagonist of RWBY. Move over, Jaune Arc!


End file.
